“Francis of Assisi tells us we should work to build peace. But there is no peace without truth! There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth.”— Pope Francis, speaking March 22 to the Vatican diplomatic corps

“We must keep alive in the world the thirst for the Absolute. We must never allow a one-dimensional vision of the human person to prevail — a vision that reduces the person to what he produces and consumes. This is one of the most dangerous, insidious things of our age.”— Pope Francis, speaking March 20 during a meeting with representatives from other Christian churches and other religions

“I am a pastor, not a politician. And to talk as a pastor, these are not statistics. These are souls. Human beings. We’re talking about fathers and husbands who, with no warning, won’t be coming home for dinner tonight and who may not see their families again for a decade at least. We are talking about a government policy that punishes children for the crimes of their parents. We are a better people than this. America has always been a nation of justice and law. But we are also a people of compassion and common sense. What we’re doing right now betrays our values and makes our country weaker and more vulnerable.”— Archbishop José Gomez, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, during a March 19 address calling for immigration reform

“I applaud the Maryland General Assembly for choosing to meet evil not with evil, but with a justice worthy of our best nature as human beings.”— Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, after the Maryland House of Delegates passed legislation March 15 to repeal the state’s death penalty, a measure Gov. Martin O’Malley has promised to sign into law